WEBVTT PATTY SANTOS IS INVESTIGATINGHOW HE WAS ALLOWED TO DRIVE.PATTY: A NEW LAW MAY HAVEPREVENTED HIM FROM JUST WALKINGAWAY.A LAWMAKER IS WORKING WITH THEYUKON FAMILY TO STRENGTHEN DUILAWS EVEN MORE.CRAIG MAKER HAS BEEN ARRESTEDFIVE TIMES IN THREE DIFFERENTCOUNTIES FOR THE SAME CRIME.>> THERE IS NO EXCUSE FORPENALIZING THOSE THAT HAVE HADMULTIPLE DUIS MORE HARSHLY.PATTY: THE WIDOW OF AMANDACARSON IS ASKING WHY MAKER GOTSO MANY CHANCES.IN JUNE AND JULY OF 2010, HE WASARRESTED TWICE IN OKLAHOMA CITY.ACCORDING TO STATE LAW, THEDISTRICT ATTORNEY GENERAL'SOFFICE SHOULD HAVE CHARGED HIMWITH A FELONY.BUT INSTEAD, THEY PUT BOTHCHARGES TOGETHER.THREE MONTHS LATER HE WASARRESTED FOR DUI IN LOGANCOUNTY.HE HAD A MISDEMEANOR FOR A THIRDSUSPENDED SENTENCE.WE ASKED WHY HIS PREVIOUS DUISWERE OVERLOOKED.IN 2015, AN OKLAHOMA COUNTYJUDGE GAVE HIM A DEFERRED 10YEAR SENTENCE FOR A FOURTH PLEADEAL ON A FELONY DUI CONVICTION.THE JUDGE IN THIS CASE TELL US

A convicted drunken driver was not sent to prison after four prior cases, but why?
Craig Maker is accused of his fifth DUI in a crash that killed Amanda Carson of Yukon and injured three others. Many question how he was allowed behind the wheel.
A law that went into effect two months ago may have helped prevent Maker from walking away. The lawmaker said he's now working with the Yukon family to strengthen DUI laws even more this next session.
Maker has been arrested five times in three different counties for the same crime.
“Simply put, this is happening far too frequently and there's no excuse for not penalizing those who have had multiple DUIs more harshly,” said Cory Carson, Amanda Carson’s husband.
Court records show in June and July of 2010, Maker was arrested twice for DUI in Oklahoma County. According to state law, the District Attorney's Office should have charged him with a felony the second time. But instead, we learned they clumped both arrests into a plea agreement.
Maker walked away with a suspended sentence. Three months later he was arrested on suspicion of DUI in Logan County. He pleaded out to a misdemeanor for a third suspended sentence.
Logan and Oklahoma County district attorneys would not return KOCO 5’s calls, asking why Maker’s previous DUIs were overlooked.
In 2015, an Oklahoma County judge gave him a deferred 10-year sentence for a fourth plea deal on a felony DUI conviction.
The judge in this case told KOCO the attorneys did not make him aware of the previous convictions. Under state law, he said a judge is prohibited from doing his own independent investigation into a case.
A new DUI law allows cities and county courts to share information about arrests like DUIs. This was not the case back in 2010.

OKLAHOMA CITY —

A convicted drunken driver was not sent to prison after four prior cases, but why?

Craig Maker is accused of his fifth DUI in a crash that killed Amanda Carson of Yukon and injured three others. Many question how he was allowed behind the wheel.

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A law that went into effect two months ago may have helped prevent Maker from walking away. The lawmaker said he's now working with the Yukon family to strengthen DUI laws even more this next session.

Maker has been arrested five times in three different counties for the same crime.

“Simply put, this is happening far too frequently and there's no excuse for not penalizing those who have had multiple DUIs more harshly,” said Cory Carson, Amanda Carson’s husband.

Court records show in June and July of 2010, Maker was arrested twice for DUI in Oklahoma County. According to state law, the District Attorney's Office should have charged him with a felony the second time. But instead, we learned they clumped both arrests into a plea agreement.

Maker walked away with a suspended sentence. Three months later he was arrested on suspicion of DUI in Logan County. He pleaded out to a misdemeanor for a third suspended sentence.

Logan and Oklahoma County district attorneys would not return KOCO 5’s calls, asking why Maker’s previous DUIs were overlooked.

In 2015, an Oklahoma County judge gave him a deferred 10-year sentence for a fourth plea deal on a felony DUI conviction.

The judge in this case told KOCO the attorneys did not make him aware of the previous convictions. Under state law, he said a judge is prohibited from doing his own independent investigation into a case.

A new DUI law allows cities and county courts to share information about arrests like DUIs. This was not the case back in 2010.